1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices used for watering cut plants, and more particularly, to an improved apparatus for maintaining a water supply in a stand used to support a Christmas tree.
2. Description of Related Art
The inconveniences of watering Christmas trees supported in stands are well known. The breadth of branches surrounding the stand make it somewhat difficult to reach the stand for filling. Further, since the cut trees rapidly absorb water in the stand, the stand must be frequently re-filled.
A number of different prior art devices for watering Christmas trees have attempted to solve these inconveniences.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,009 to Cibor, discloses a Christmas tree watering system. The disclosed watering system includes an elevated reservoir connected to a sealed float valve assembly via tubing. The float valve assembly is strapped to the trunk of the tree to resist tilting. A float element is housed in a float body of the float valve assembly. The float element selectively enables filling of water in the Christmas tree stand from the water supply in the reservoir, to maintain a water level in the tree stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,137 to Foster, discloses a device for watering and removing water from a cut plant container. A collapsible bulb is retained in a funnel coupled to a tube. Water is added to the plant container through the tubing, via the funnel. The bulb can be compressed to draw water from the cut plant container into the bulb, for disposing of the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,236 to Sands, discloses a Christmas tree self-watering ornament. The disclosed device includes a reservoir coupled to a flexible conduit. A valve is located at a lowermost end of the conduit. The valve includes a check ball located between spaced webs for permitting selective passage of water through the conduit. The device further includes a fiber optic cable running through the conduit for enhanced use of the device as an ornament.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,252, discloses a Christmas tree waterer that includes a reservoir coupled to a water level monitor positioned in a stand. The water level monitor is electrically connected to a solenoid valve. When the water level in the stand falls below a desired level, the monitor triggers a switch to activate the solenoid to enable water to flow from the reservoir to the stand.
Additional plant maintenance devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,809,468 to Eliot, U.S. Pat. No. 1,586,676 to Heath, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,383,368 to Ambrose.
A disadvantage common to the prior art is that there are no means provided to indicate to the user that the water supply in a cut plant container, such as a Christmas tree stand, has fallen below a desired minimum level. A further disadvantage of the prior art is that there is no means to indicate to the user when the water supply level in a reservoir is low or empty.
There is, therefore, a need for an apparatus to indicate to the user that a water supply in,a cut plant container, such as a Christmas tree stand or reservoir, has fallen below a desired minimum level.
One such system which overcame the problems of the prior art was set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,839, granted to the inventor on May 2, 1995.